Oakley t



(No Model.)

0. T. LEE.

DISH 0R PLATE LIFTER.

No. 271,340. Patented Jan. 30,1883.

the article lifted.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC OAKLEY T.-LEE, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

DISH OR PLATE LIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,340, dated January 30, 1883.

Application filed December 11, 18 82. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern t Be it known that I, OAKLEY '1. LEE, of

Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvementin are liable to be brought into contact with the surface of the pie or other article.

My invention is made for obviating the aforesaid difficulties; and it consists in a sliding finger upon the hooked rods, constructed so as to clamp upon the rods by the pressure from I also dispense with any separate handle, and form the. lifter-rods so that they can be grasped at the finger, and the thumb be used to either relieve the finger or move it; up against the plate, dish, pan,or other utensil that is either hot or dirty.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the lifter, partially in section. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of the finger.

The wire made use of is sntliciently large and strong for the intended use. It is bent double at a, and the two rods 1) b are slightly diverging, and near the ends theydiverge considerably, as at c, and are bent downwardly, as seen in Fig. 1, and terminate as hooks d.

The sustaining-finger e is made as a casting,

and the upper part has the loops or eyes 2 and 3, that slide upon the rods 1) b. There is a plate, 4, that is at the upper partof the finger and extends across below the rods 1).

Upon reference to Fig.1 it will be seen that the plate h, or other article, when grasped between the hooks and finger, is at some distance below the rods 12 b, the edge of such dish or plate occupying the bends of the hooks d. Hence the rods 'bb will not come into contact with the top of a pie, should the lifter be used with such an article; neither will the dish or plate be liable to slip in consequence of an insufficient hold. The finger 0, when pushed along'by the thumb or finger, passes under the edge of theplate or otherartiole, as shown,

and the person grasping the rods in lifting the article causes the rods to bind against the sides of the eyes or loops 2 2 of the finger 0. Furthermore, the downward pressure upon the front of the finger e causes the back corner, 6, of the plate portion 4: to bind against the under sides of the rods b, and the front edge of the eyes or loops 3 to bind upon the top surfaces of the said rods, thereby producing a holding action that prevents the finger sliding back upon the rods. Besides this the thumb of the person using the lifter will usually rest against the upper back portion of the sliding finger to keep it up to place. When the artiole that has been lifted is placed on a table or other support the pressure upon the curved end of the finger is relieved, so that it no longer binds upon the rods, and it can be drawn back to detach thelifter from the plate or other article.

I claitn as my invention- 1. The combination, with the rods 1) and hooks d, of the finger 6, having the eyes or loops sliding upon the rods I), and forming a clamp that binds upon the rods 1) by the action of the weight of the article lifted, substantially as set forth.

2. In a litter for plates and other articles, the wire bent double to form the parallel or nearly parallel rods 1; b, the hooks at the ends of the rods, and downwardly-bent portion 0, in combination with the sliding finger, substantially as set forth.

3. In a plate-lifter, the combination, with the rods b, with hooks at their ends, of the castnietalfinger having a curved end, and eyes or loops sliding on the rods and acting to clamp the same, substantially asset forth.

Signed by me this 7th day of December, A.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINCKNEY, WILLIAM G. Mo'rr. 

